Former Bangladesh minister Salahuddin Ahmed, who was arrested here in Meghalaya for illegally entering India, was on Wednesday remanded to 14 days' judicial custody.Ahmed, a spokesman of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was presented before Chief Judicial Magistrate K.M. Lyngdoh Nongbri after he was discharged from the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences on Tuesday."The court remanded Ahmed to 14 days' judicial custody," Ahmed's counsel S.P. Mahanta told IANS.Mahanta said the court has directed the investigating officer to take necessary steps for Ahmed's medical check-up after his client complained of chest pain and sleeplessness night.
Emerging from the court, a frail-looking Ahmed said: "I am still having chest pain and I need further treatment. But I am thankful to the Indian government for providing me the medical assistance."On Tuesday, Meghalaya Police took Ahmed into custody. He was later taken to the Sadar police station and was interrogated by police on his illegal entry into India without valid documents.Police have registered a case against him under the Foreigners Act on charges of illegally entering India after he failed to produce his travel documents. He also did not have any papers to prove his identity and citizenship.Ahmed, the then communications minister under the government of BNP leader Khaleda Zia from 2001-06, was held after people alerted the authorities about some suspicious movements by a man.Ahmed claimed that he was kidnapped by unidentified people from Dhaka's Uttara area on March 10. He said he does not remember how he came to Meghalaya.